Arrived: TJB-55G AMRR ca 1985 - killer JP bass!

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Voidoid56

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I'posted this one when I won the auction, one of the "modded vintage" bass models pictured stamp-sized on the last spread of the 1985 catalog. It finally arrived, and what a great instrument. Only my sense of self-preservation stopped me from hanging on to it ("don't EVER start collecting basses as well!"). The JP config is kind of the best idea ever, at least for a puny guitarist like myself, who only plays bass on an as-needed basis in my home studio. You get JB ease-of-play and bridge pickup attack AND PB meat from the bridge pickup. Amazing stuff.

TJB-55G AMRR kind of looks like the designation of some exotic USAF airborne ordinance, but it's puzzles out quite easily: G for gold hardware, AMR for all-over metallic red and R for rosewood fretboard. The hardware is gold-plated, there's no brass involved. Quite a lot of tarnish, as usual, but it cleaned up pretty well. In all, it was in good condition and all original.

Highly recommended, this one.


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L+5 serial, 55 sticker in place. Looks like 55 in crayon underneath the neck plate, though the extra line through the number is confusing. Google translate can't identify it as a Japanese character anyway.

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Stamp with a = divider in the body, only what looks like a handwritten G in felt-tip on the neck. Could stand for "gold", they had a nickel/chrome hardware TJB-45 model with painted neck at the same time, so possibly to tell the assembly ppl which hardware to use?
It's interesting how they always and meticulously masked over the stamp before painting bodies, but I don't think I've ever seen that on a painted neck?

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Undated, rubber-stamped pots.

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The same model in black in the '85 catalog.

Skärmklipp.JPG
 
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Very cool.

I think the color code is AMRR ?

A= All over paint
MR= Metallic red
R= Rosewood


MBX example:

cat_1984tokai_vol2_page16.jpg

And I know I’ve seen that G designation for gold hardware but couldn’t find it yesterday when I looked for it in catalogs. Have you seen it?
 
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And I know I’ve seen that G designation for gold hardware but couldn’t find it yesterday when I looked for it in catalogs. Have you seen it?

Hm... not sure what you mean..? It's in the '85 catalog for this model, see the scan I posted. Or do you mean for other models with gold hardware? I'm not sure it was consistently used in any way.
 
Thanks. It seems like I have seen others, but haven’t found other examples in catalogs.

Specifically I’m thinking about a star model FSD that has gold hardware but also occurred with silver hardware for a minute in 1983. A period of a lot of change and non catalog examples.

Five Star FS, FSD & F Star Model Gallery

Anyway, just wondered if you had come across that besides this one bass.
 
Thanks. It seems like I have seen others, but haven’t found other examples in catalogs.

Specifically I’m thinking about a star model FSD that has gold hardware but also occurred with silver hardware for a minute in 1983. A period of a lot of change and non catalog examples.

Five Star FS, FSD & F Star Model Gallery

Anyway, just wondered if you had come across that besides this one bass.
Hm... come to think of of it, I don't think I've seen it in any other models with gold hardware, no. If so, I guess it would turn up in, for instance, high-end Strats with gold hardware?

But really, I've just assumed that it's G for gold. Maybe it's something else entirely?
 
I think it is "G" for gold. I have seen this elsewhere and likely in translating catalogs. Will probably turn up when I'm looking for something else. Thanks
 

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